Plenty of folks are baffled with the different methods of hooking up a Soundbar, and this is unsurprising - every make appears to have different choices and methods for getting this done! In this post we set down the principal methods. Clearly we cannot be really specific since the options differ a great deal, however we will give you a basic overview of the main approaches and strategys.
The most basic of Soundbars have a simple 3.5mm stereo jack input. You just connect the headphone output from your TV to the input on the Soundbar; maybe adjust some volume/tone settings on the Soundbar and you're done. All your gadgets (Wii, Xbox etc) plug into the TV like normal. The advantage with this is the simplicity and the fact that normally you don't need another remote control - you continue to use your TV remote as normal. You won't get the best sound from such a system but it will still be brilliant compared to the TV on its own!
Shifting up the Soundbar level of quality hierarchy the next big connection option which you are likely to come across is optical. With this situation you usually connect all of your devices to the Television and next the optical out from the Television to the Soundbar. An optical cable can transport much more data and may offer superior audio when compared to a 3.5mm type connector. You might also need optical to reinforce a non HDMI ARC link. (see later paragraph!)
Several Soundbars from the Mid-Range will include an HDMI input plus an HDMI ARC output. This means you may link HDMI products (For instance a BluRay player) straight to the Soundbar. Video signal can then be transferred through to the Television. When the HDMI on the Soundbar and also the Television is ARC certified you then will not require anymore wiring between your Soundbar and the TV because the one HDMI cable doesn't just pass video signal to the Television but audio coming from the Television returning to the Soundbar as well. In the event that it's some sort of non ARC HDMI link then you'll have to add an optical cable to the mixture.
The best Soundbar typically has all the connection options of the midrange and a few more for good measure! There are also likely to be more of them! Some units will have RCA, Optical, coaxial, possibly a wireless iPod link and multiple HDMI inputs! With these high end units it's often possible to connect all your gadgets to the Soundbar and then pass thru any video signal (BluRay disk for instance) to the TV via HDMI ARC.
Remember that Soundbars and other electronic devices vary greatly. This article is only an outline of the sort of approaches that may be possible. It's essential that you read the manual for your specific machines before connecting everything together!
The most basic of Soundbars have a simple 3.5mm stereo jack input. You just connect the headphone output from your TV to the input on the Soundbar; maybe adjust some volume/tone settings on the Soundbar and you're done. All your gadgets (Wii, Xbox etc) plug into the TV like normal. The advantage with this is the simplicity and the fact that normally you don't need another remote control - you continue to use your TV remote as normal. You won't get the best sound from such a system but it will still be brilliant compared to the TV on its own!
Shifting up the Soundbar level of quality hierarchy the next big connection option which you are likely to come across is optical. With this situation you usually connect all of your devices to the Television and next the optical out from the Television to the Soundbar. An optical cable can transport much more data and may offer superior audio when compared to a 3.5mm type connector. You might also need optical to reinforce a non HDMI ARC link. (see later paragraph!)
Several Soundbars from the Mid-Range will include an HDMI input plus an HDMI ARC output. This means you may link HDMI products (For instance a BluRay player) straight to the Soundbar. Video signal can then be transferred through to the Television. When the HDMI on the Soundbar and also the Television is ARC certified you then will not require anymore wiring between your Soundbar and the TV because the one HDMI cable doesn't just pass video signal to the Television but audio coming from the Television returning to the Soundbar as well. In the event that it's some sort of non ARC HDMI link then you'll have to add an optical cable to the mixture.
The best Soundbar typically has all the connection options of the midrange and a few more for good measure! There are also likely to be more of them! Some units will have RCA, Optical, coaxial, possibly a wireless iPod link and multiple HDMI inputs! With these high end units it's often possible to connect all your gadgets to the Soundbar and then pass thru any video signal (BluRay disk for instance) to the TV via HDMI ARC.
Remember that Soundbars and other electronic devices vary greatly. This article is only an outline of the sort of approaches that may be possible. It's essential that you read the manual for your specific machines before connecting everything together!
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